Press Association: The United Nations is holding talks on
dealing with Iran after the country’s president called for Israel
to be “wiped off the map”. Press Association
The United Nations is holding talks on dealing with Iran after the country’s president called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”.
UN members are starting informal talks with secretary general Kofi Annan who is due to fly out to Iran in the next few weeks.
Britain’s Defence Secretary John Reid said Iran posed a challenge to the whole world.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparked international condemnation last week when he called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Tony Blair said he was revolted by the remarks and warned they risked persuading people Iran really was a threat to world security.
Iran has also been accused of providing devices to insurgents in Iraq which have been used to attack British soldiers.
And there is international concern over its nuclear ambitions.
Mr Reid said: “The United Nations are, even as we speak today, consulting each other informally at the Security Council level…about what to do about Iran because it is a confrontation which Iran is pushing on the whole world.”
He said Iran was a “problem and a challenge” for the international community, not just for Britain and the US.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said military action would be inconceivable. But there is renewed speculation after Mr Blair’s tough talking.
